laws that were once effective. Under the Act, the Parole Board of Canada must order expungement of a conviction in respect of an offence that relates to acts of gross indecency, anal intercourse or buggery, as defined prior to 1969 and later on under the now repealed section 159 of the Criminal Code, if the activity for which the person was convicted was between persons of the same sex, the persons other than the person who was convicted had given their consent to participate in the activity, and the persons who participated in the activity were 16 years of age or older at the time the activity occurred. When notified of the expungement order, the RCMP and any federal department or agency must destroy or remove any judicial record of the conviction to which the expungement order relates that is in its repositories or systems. Provincial and municipal police forces and courts must also be notified of the expungement order. The person convicted of the offence is then deemed never to have been convicted of that offence. Europe The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a person has a right to have their convictions erased from all records after the passing of certain time. As of September 2020, there is currently a case pending with the Court which aims at the ruling that permanent keeping of the records is excessive. South Africa In 2008 there was an amendment to sections 2 and 3 of the South African Criminal Procedure Act (51 of 1977) known as the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act (65 of 2008). This new law came into effect on 6 May 2009. In summary, the new law says that those convicted of a minor offense, determined by the type of sentence imposed, 10 or more years ago, qualify for the expungement of their criminal record. The sentence must have been a suspended jail term, correctional supervision or a fine. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom the term "spent conviction" is used. The relevant legislation is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In the data retention model of the Police National Computer, arrests which do not lead to a finding of guilt "step down" as soon as the relevant decision is made (typically a "not guilty" verdict or a dismissal of charges) and become visible to law enforcement only. Records of cautions and minor convictions do not step